The Miami game was actually Wednesday. A 0-3 loss in a game in which seven Canadians featured for TFC including a start for Marshall-Rutty, presumably as a reward for his performance against Atlanta. Next up, this time on Saturday for real, we host that team from Montreal. The former Impact sit just one point above the playoff line and are in a dog fight with several other teams. So we have the chance to deal them a blow if we can get it together for this game. For some reason, I'm not actually feeling that optimistic, but who knows?
A 1-1 draw that feels something like a win. After being denied on a couple of good chances earlier in the game, Altidore scores in the 95th minute. Montreal is now short of the playoff line with only three games to go. Had Westburg managed to properly collect a fairly straightforward ball, we could even have won this one. Once again TFC waved the flag a bit with five Canadians in the starting lineup and a sixth coming in off the bench. Next up we host Philadelphia on Wednesday.
A 2-2 draw with Philly at home in a game featuring five Canadians. This past weekend we pulled out a 1-1 draw at Atlanta with what is usually referred to as a heavily rotated line up. Four Canadians on the starting squad (with no Osorio) including Dunn, who impressed in his first start in a long time. Two more Canadians came in off the bench, including Perruzza in the 46th, who would go on to score his first ever goal for the big club. Westberg messed up badly which unfortunately makes for two unnecessary goals against in his last three starts. TFC is not playing what I'd call good soccer but they aren't playing badly overall and they certainly aren't quitting on matches anymore. Wednesday we play host to Pacific in the Canadian Championship semi-final. Sunday we end our regular season with a home game against DC. I'm expecting to see a strong line up against Victoria as we held back quite a few players in Atlanta and the Canadian Championship is a much more valuable tournament right now. If things go as expected, I anticipate TFC winning comfortably but you never know with these tournaments and the games are always fun. I hope for a good crowd on what is forecast to be a cool but clear evening.
A 2-1 win against Pacific in the Canadian Championship semi-final. Should have been at least four for TFC but a combination of poor finishing and some big saves by Victoria's keeper kept things close. Full credit to Pacific for never giving up. And a not particularly inspiring 3-1 home loss to DC to end this forgettable MLS season. Our next match is the Canadian Championship final when we travel to Montreal on a yet-to-be-decided day to face the CFM. Montreal crashed out of the playoffs with a final game loss to Orlando so neither team has anything else on the immediate horizon. Here's to hoping for a game quite soon while the weather is still nice and the players are still game fit. And to seeing TFC thrash the former Impact, ideally via a hat trick by Altidore or something equally painful. After that we can contemplate what TFC will do this off season to get back in to winning ways overall.